Morad wins as podium battle thrills
| By Mark Glendenning |
Sunday, July 11th 2010, 08:23 GMT |
 Daniel Morad won today's GP3 sprint race at Silverstone, although the show was stolen by an almighty scrap for the final podium places during the final lap.
Morad beat slow-starting polesitter Mirko Bortolotti off the line to take the lead, and the Status driver enjoyed a fairly stress-free run home to eventually win by 4.9 seconds, taking both his and his team's first victory in the category.
Bortolotti was second across the line, although that could change with a final lap incident involving the Italian and series leader Esteban Gutierrez currently under investigation by race stewards.
Gutierrez had made steady progress through the field from eighth to challenge the Italian for second, and after shadowing the Addax car for several laps Gutierrez made a move on the run down Wellington Straight. Bortolotti responded by putting Gutierrez onto the grass, allowing the Mexican's ART team-mate Alexander Rossi into the mix.
While Bortolotti ran away in second, Rossi and Gutierrez fought furiously for third, the pair running side through the final complex and crossing the finish line almost simultaneously - Rossi was granted the honours, but the timing screen displayed the margin between the pair as 0.00s.
Nico Muller (Jenzer) was fifth, having run much of the race in third before a mistake allowed both of the ART drivers through, while Robert Wickens took the final point for Status. Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Daniel Morad Status 26m35.990s
2. Mirko Bortolotti Addax + 4.974s
3. Alexander Rossi ART + 5.537s
4. Esteban Gutierrez ART + 5.626s
5. Nico Muller Jenzer + 6.116s
6. Robert Wickens Status + 6.869s
7. Tobias Hegewald RSC Mucke + 7.714s
8. Renger van der Zande RSC Mucke + 10.872s
9. Oliver Oakes Atech CRS + 16.493s
10. Pal Varhaug Jenzer + 19.226s
11. Josef Newgarden Carlin + 19.991s
12. James Jakes Manor + 23.871s
13. Simon Trummer Jenzer + 24.843s
14. Pablo Sanchez Lopez Addax + 28.577s
15. Michael Christensen MW Arden + 28.748s
16. Lucas Foresti Carlin + 42.464s
17. Doru Sechelariu Tech 1 + 44.034s
18. Miki Monras MW Arden + 46.761s
19. Roberto Merhi Atech CRS + 47.572s
20. Pedro Nunes ART + 48.034s
21. Vittorio Ghirelli Atech CRS + 48.727s
22. Dean Smith Carlin + 50.126s
23. Felipe Guimaraes Addax + 57.832s
Retirements:
Ivan Lukashevich Status 11 laps
Leonardo Cordeiro MW Arden 9 laps
Stefano Coletti Tech 1 8 laps
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 4 laps
Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 2 laps
Daniel Juncadella Tech 1 2 laps
Rio Haryanto Manor 2 laps
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